Everything about More Irish Than The Irish Themselves totally explained
"
More Irish than the Irish themselves" (
Irish:
Níos Gaelaí ná na Gaeil iad féin,
Latin:
Hiberniores Hibernis ipsis) was a phrase used in the
Middle Ages to describe the phenomenon whereby foreigners who came to
Ireland attached to invasion forces tended to be subsumed into Irish social and cultural society, adopted the Irish language,
Irish culture, style of dress and a wholesale identification with all things Irish.
About
These forces were generally associated with
Richard "Strongbow" de Clare,
Hugh de Lacy, and
Gilbert de Angulo. The first family to be thus recognised was the
de Angulo, known as Mac Coisdeala (for example Gilbert, son of Jocelyn) the name which was given to his descendants in
Connacht. It was rendered into English as MacCostello, which in time became
Costello. While this phenomenon was associated with earlier invaders, and particularly with the post-12th century English and Norman settlers who became known as the
Old English, it isn't as often associated with later arrivals from the
seventeenth century onwards.
Usage
The phrase is still commonly used however, both colloquially and in the media, in reference to immigration and assimilation in Ireland, and to some degree about some of the
Irish diaspora (for example in
The Irish Times, Sen. Jim Walsh, Dr. Liam Twomey TD, or
Irish Emigrant) or in conversation discussing the relationship between the cultural heritage of the Irish diaspora and the Irish in Ireland. While still echoing its original meaning, contemporary usage of the phrase usually takes a more open interpretation of assimilation or, in the case of the diaspora, the maintenance of Irish heritage.
Debates of the
Oireachtas demonstrate the age and range of contemporary applications of the phrase. Either when discussing the diaspora:
Or, more light-heartedly, on assimilation:
Modern Age
It remains to be seen if the new waves of immigrants to Ireland during the time of the
Celtic Tiger would compare to the previous waves and assimilate as well into Irish society. Though it's a fact that the children of the modern immigrants feel "as Irish as the Irish themselves".
Further Information
Get more info on 'More Irish Than The Irish Themselves'.
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